Playing cards



" Nia-y19', 1925;. 1,538,515]

' W. P. D IETZ PLAYING'CARDS Filed Nov. 24. 1922 l s sheets-smet 2 W. P. DETZ PLAYING CARDS May 19, 1925.

Iwan/Taza.

Patented May 19 4192,5.

g 1,538,515 PATENT oFFicE.

" UNITED STATES i WILLIAM P. DIETZ, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

PLAYING CARDS.

Y Application filed November 24, '1922. vSerial No. 603,087.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it knovvn that I, WILLIAM l?. Din'rz, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Playing Cards, of Which the following' is Va speci# fication.

This invention relates to a novel deck of playing cards by the use of rWhich various games may be played in simulation of an election contest, and one otV the primary Y obJects of the present invention is to providel a deck oic playing cards in the use of which a greater variety lol combinations are 'ren` dered possible than in the use oi ordinary playing cards.

Another important object of the invensV tion is to provide a' deck of playing cards in which the relative values of .the cards may be selectively and arbitrarily determined according to color, symbols, emblems, and numerical designations'. y

In the accompanying drawings:

Figures 1 to 16, inclusive, are plain views illustrating the cards comprising a suit oi one color; Y

Figures 17 to 20inclusive, are similar views illustrating the emblem cards of a suit of another color;

Figures 21 to 24, inclusive, are similar' the drawings, illustrate all of the cards comprising a suit of one color as, `for example,

blue, and the cards comprising the two other main suits will be printed in distinguishing colors, for example, gold and red. Each main suit comprises `four emblem cards and twelve cardsv having designated numerical value. Figures l to 4, inclusive, illustrate the four .emblem cards of the blue suit, these cards being indicated in general by the numerals` 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each card bears upon its face, in diagonallyk opposite corners, a symbol, such, for example, as a letter of the alphabet representing the initial letter of the name oi' a political party, as indicated in eachinstance bythe numeralv 5. For ,ex-

ample, Vthe card 1 Will bear the letter I representing the initial letter of the inde` pendent party; the card 2 Willv bear they letter B representing the initial 'of a Bloc party; the card 3 Will-bear the let- Y ter D representing the initial oi' the Dem-l oci-atie party, and, the card 4 will beai the letter R representing the initial of the y Republican party. Likevviseeach of these cardsmay bear upon its face in the other diagonally opposite corners, a symbol in the distinctive color of the suit and indicated by the numeral 6, and this symbol may, for example, be in the nature of a representation of a cross mark and maybe symbolic of the cross mark placed on a ballot by a voter. Each of the cards 1, 2, 3l andl Will also preferably have printed upon its ace one or'more representations of the emblem of the particular party Which it represents, and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the card 1, representing the Inde-y pendent party may'bear as an emblem, the representation of a` goat; the card 2 may bear the representation of a pig, emblematical of a Bloc party; the card 3 may bear the representation of a donkey, emblematical of the- Democratic party; and, the card l may bear therepresentation of an elephant, emblematical of the Republican party. These emblematical images, in each instance,

are indicated by Vthe numeral 7. Each of the cards 1, 2, 3 and 4f also has printed upon it, as, for example, at each end, a legend, indicated by the numeral 8, Which may, for eX- ample, be indicative of the principles or interests of an aspirant to oilice or the party which he represents. r

The numerical cards of the suit are illustrated in Figures 5 to 16, inclusive, and are indicated in general by the numeral 9, each;

cardl bearing. upon itsv `tace at diagonally opposite corners, symbols 1() corresponding to; the symbols 6 of the emblem'oards, and

lin the other diagonally opposite corners bearing ordinals indicated by the numeral 11. and representing the numerical values of the respective cards. Each card 9 also bears upon its face, in the space occupied by the emblems 7 upon the cards 1, 2, 3, yand 1, one Vor more ordinals 12 preferably of large and readily discernible size and corresponding to the ordinals which are indicated by lli) the numeral ll. Also each card 9 will bear upon its face legends 13 corresporiding` in character to the legends 8 previously referred to in connection with the emblem cards, and by comparison of the several ligh ures representing the numerical cards, it Will be observed that the nature ol the aspiranlfe interests or purposes, in seeking oi'iice7 is more or less in consonance with the numerical values of the cards.

desired all of the devices printed upon the lace of each card ol the suit may be represented in solid color or in outline7 or on! f one or' the various devices may he re )resentif edV in color as, 1for example, the symbolic devices and l() of the emblem and numerical cards respectively.

igures l? to 20, inclusive, correspont. to Figures l te el? inclusive, and illustrare emblem cards o1" another one of the sufts for exzrmple.` that one of gold color. l larlly, Figures to 2S, inclusive, illustr the emblem cards or" the third main suit f arev printed iu a distinguishing color s for examplej as red.

i-gures 2l to 2, inclusive7 illustrate the cards comprising; an ii lependerrr` suit. and

these cards are indicated the numerals "rel, l5, l@ and i7. These cards hear initial LS corresponding` to the letters 5 t0, and they also bear heretofore referrerA emblems 19 representative el' the political parties7 ol' the names ot which the letters i8 are the initials. Also a symbolic characte' or device indicated by the numeral 2l)v` i printed upon the face of each or the :arde le., l5, 16' and lj? preferably in the same position as the devices G and l() heretofore reerred to. This symbolic device or figure howeverj preierahly diii'erent from the sain' devices G and l0, and may, for example, re semble what may he termed a double cross. The cards 14;, l5', 16 and' l? are preferably printed in black. The cards le, l5, 1G and li' also bear legends 2l correspoiulioe; to the legends 8 and 33 and ol`- a character indicating inferior morals.

rom the foregoing;l descriptifm it will he evident that there three mai. suits each represented by sixteen cards ci' a tinguishing color, and an independent suit of some other color sucln Yfor example. as black. and which lutter suit comprises only 'four cards which` as previously state are represented in Figures ill to 21h inclusi.'e. The distingzjuis' in@` colors oli the several suits may be given preference in a. predetermined ranking order. For example, the cards ol' the gold suit may be considered to raul; highest, and the cards ci the blue, red and black suits of less value in the order named, although this purely an arbitrary selection oiI colors. ln any event the cards oi the black or indep ndent suit which are only `four in number, will be deemed of interior terminer l their numerals; the emblem wird: ha the highest playing value, and,`

n. the e l a tie in the value o'lf the c rds3 colo V,rs or' the cards will detera above stated. yEllie. cards 1 a time and the players deal i ier y`eau-ics. (lne color may l l tru up and will then he more valuable than any other color but, it there be no trump7 the colors retain their original relative values. The black or double cross cards may be used in mary Ways, as jokersj boWers. or penalty cards.

s players become familiar with the cards, various rules will he formulated am games developed. l have formulated ru l for a game which call General election in which the object is to hid for and se cure as many votes as possible. rllhe total votes or the game may be any number decided upon by the players. yThe object oi" the bid is to claim as many votes as a player may think he can capture, either alone, or with the help ci" a partner. The cards are shuflled and dealt equally9 if possible, but, il the number el" players in the game is such that an equal distribution is not possible7 the cards remainiiug,l after the deal are placed in the discard. .lLach player, in turnr` selects a political party and mentions the name ot that party and the amountl ot his bid, the highest hid Winning` and the player mah4 ing such bid beginning` the play. 'llux player will lay inthe center ol the table one of his party emblem cards and call for the numerical cards bearing; the same legend as that appearing' upon his played party einhlem card. `Each playeny in turn, must play one cardt ii' possible the card called ior. All ca played which are notv called i'or must he placed in the discard unless they are claimed by a player Who ha.' the corresijionding; legend emblem card which he has used. as call card und is exposed in 'front of him. E ch player, in turn, leads a call card and leaves the same and the corresponding legend card in front oi him face up. The value o'f a trick is determined by computing the values oi the cards played to it and bclongs to the leader. lf a player cannotV play a card called for. he may, of course, play any card from his hand Iand il he should play a double cross emblem card of the leaders party it will count five votes' against the leader. The new Vote cards, which are shown in Figs. 5 and 6, will be claimed and counted by the leader of a trick in which said cards are played. The cards may be given arbitrary counting value and after one hand of each player has been played, the counting or voting value of the'several cards are added and the player having the highest total is declared the Winner, although it is permissible to play until some one player has reached the predetermined grand total in order to be decided the winner.` Any player failing to secure the number of votes for Which he bid will lose the Whole amount of his bid.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: y l

l. A deck of playing cards embodying` a plurality of suits each having a distinctive color and embracing. a series of cards emblematic'of political parties and a series of cards representing voters and carrying numerical designations, and an independent suit embracing only a series of cards emblematic of political parties.

2. A deck of playing cards embodying a plurality of suits each including a series of W cards bearing emblems indicative of political parties and a voting symbol and a series of cards having numerical designations and the same voting symbol, and an independent suit including only a series of cards bearing emblems indicative of politicalparties, and a voting symbol dierent from the voting symbol upon the cards of the iirst-mentioned suits, each suit having-a distinctivey color.

3. A. deck oi playing cards embodying a plurality of suits, each including a series of emblem cards representing political parties anda series oit numerical cards, all the cards of said suits having the same voting symbol thereon, and an independent suit including y WILLmM P. DIETZ. [Le] 

